A Company’s ‘Social Promise’ Sends Kids to School
In November 2013, CommonBond, a company that offers low-rate refinancing of student loans, and Pencils of Promise, a nonprofit that builds schools in developing countries, launched a partnership: For each completed CommonBond loan, the firm will fund a year’s schooling for a Pencils of Promise student. In the next year the program will provide up to $1 million for the education of children in need. In this segment, David Klein, CEO of the loan company, and Michael Dougherty, head of Pencils of Promise, discuss the “1-for-1” philanthropic approach and the ethos of “social promise” that undergirds CommonBond’s business model.